Aligner for manifolding sheaves



Nov. 22, 1938. R. v. POTTEIGER 2,137,588

ALIGNER FOR MANIFOLDING sHEAvEs Filed Nov. 13, 1936v Patented Nov. 22, 1938 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFicE 2,137,588 ALIGNER FOR MANTFOLD'ING sHEAvEs Roy V. Potteiger, Rochester, N. Y.

Application November 13, 1936, Serial No. 110,735

2 Claims.

'I'his invention relates to` an accessory in the art of typewriting which may be called a multiserve aligner.

Its general object is to provide a folder for receiving a sheaf of alternately arranged copy and carbon sheets, and retaining them during their passage through the typewriter, and having the following advantages: to hold the top edges of the sheets aligned so that they will not fan out at the top when drawn in between the platen and said roller; to permit the sheaf of sheets to be joggled against a xed surface to obtain both topwise and lateral alignment; to permit the use of any style of carbon sheets; to provide for the selective withdrawal of the carbon sheets, leaving the copy sheets in the folder; to indicate on the folder definite points on the copy sheets corresponding to the typing line, and to provide means for rapidly paging the sheaf of carbon and copy sheets whenever it may be desirable to count them or inspect them individually while in situ in the folder, as for example, to ascertain whether all copies are plain, or if the proper number of sheets have been assembled.

25 Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the following specification and throughout the several figures of which the same characters of reference have been employed to designate identical parts:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the multiserve aligner;

Figure 2 is a plan view partly in section of the combined aligner and the manifolding sheaf with which it cooperates;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through the combined aligner and manifolding sheaf; and

Figure 4 is a detail view in perspective showing the function of the aligner in assisting in the individual paging of the carbon and copy sheets.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, 45 the numeral l represents in general the aligner of the present invention which comprises a back sheet 2 folded near the top as indicated at 3 in Figure 3, to form an overfolded flap 4Q The iap and back sheet together form a dihedral angle in which a sheaf of alternately interleaved copy sheets 5 and carbon sheets 6 are freely arranged. On account of the fact that the carbon sheets are not fastened in any manner in the folder, but are assembled with relation to the copy sheets entire- 55 ly extraneously to the folder, the eciency and rapidity of assemblage by the typist are not interferred with.

When the sheaf of copy and carbon sheets has been inserted in the folder the absolute freedom of movement of said copy and carbon sheets peri' mits them to be perfectly aligned simply by joggling or tapping the upper edge of the folder and one of the lateral edges, preferably the left edge, against a rm plane surface.

At least one corresponding end of each carbon sheet is truncated and preferably diagonal ends are truncated so that the carbon paper can be used in reversed position in connection with the folder. One corner l of the overfolded flap 4 is indicated as a thumb hold and the manifolding sheaf is so arranged that the corner of said sheaf which embraces the truncated corners at one end of the carbon sheets is in registry with said thumb hold. Although carbon paper may be purchased which is ready truncated, the typist may snip the diagonal corners from the sheets of any style of carbon paper without any pretense at accuracy since the topwise and lateral joggling of the sheaf will bring the cut away corners of the carbon paper in operative position relative to the thumb hold l. When the sheaf is in aligned position in the aligner or holder, it is obvious that if the corner 'l be grasped between the thumb and finger the corners of the white sheets will be clamped while the corners of the carbons being truncated will be free from clamping pressure.

Figures 2 and 3 show that the carbon sheets 6 have bottom portions 8 which extend below the bottom edges 9 of the copy sheets. The lower edge I0 of the back sheet 2, as shown in Figure l, is formed with an indent Il exposing a part of the extending bottom portions 8 of the carbon sheets. It is quite apparent therefore that when 'the corner l is grasped between thumb and iinger of one hand while the extending bottom portions of the carbons exposed by the indent l I are grasped by the thumb and finger of the other hand, the copy sheets alone are held by the one hand and the carbon sheets alone by the other, so that by pulling, the carbon sheets may all b-e withdrawn from the sheaf leaving the copy sheets alone in position within the folder.

Aligning devices are known in which a centrally located indent in the top and at the lower edge of the folder permit the carbon and copy sheets to be selectively aggregately separated in similar manner, but such aligning devices are only adapted to employ a particular cooperating style of carbon paper having factory-made indents accurately located in its top edge. It is not adapted to carbon paper prepared by the individual typist for unless great pains and accuracy were employed to get the notches in the top edges of the carbon sheets exactly in the center, the lateral aligning of the sheets of the sheaf by joggling would throw the notches out of alignment with one another and out of alignment with the indent in the top of the folder.

In the present invention the indent H in the bottom edge of the back sheet is preferably of considerable length, affecting the major portion of the lower edge of said sheet, so that the carbons may be gripped with the entire side of the hand so as to obtain a better frictional grip upon the carbons for maintaining them in orderly registry when removed from the sheaf.

One of the important features of the invention relates to the corner portion l2 of the back sheet 2 which is diametrically opposite the thumbhold l. The corner l2 is of sufficient length to extend beneath the corners of the copy sheets, designated by the reference character I3 in Figure 4 and at least partly under the extended bottom portions S of the carbon sheets. The corner l2 thus affords a support for the overlying portions of the interleaved copy sheets and carbons, said support being bendable over the hand as shown in Figure 4, so as to cause the corners of the copy sheets and the adjacent edge portions of the carbon sheets individually to spring up when the thumb is shifted alternately from one to the other as indicated by the double headed arrow as shown in Figure 4 to alternately release them, thus facilitating the counting of the sheets or finding of any particular one for purpose of inspection. The multiserve aligner is preferably made slightly wider than the manifolding shear" which it is designed to contain thus leaving a margin I4 at the right marked with a certain scale which may represent definite parts of the copy sheets and also indicate the approach of the bottom. of the copy sheets and the distance representing the last line of Writing.

In operation, a sheaf having been assembled at any convenient point composed of alternately copy and carbon sheets, the same is placed in the dihedral angle formed between the back sheet 2 and the flap 4. The assemblage is then joggled on the side edge of the aligner and then on the top edge so as to perfectly align the sheets of the manifolding sheets both topwise and laterally. 'Ihe aligner with its contents is then introduced between the platen and feed roller of the typ-ewriter. On account of the fact that the aligned upper edges of the several sheets are within the said dihedral angle, they are not fanned out along the platen as would ordinarily be the case due to the difference in the circumference of the lowermost and uppermost sheets when bent around the platen. Such tanning must of course occur, but it is of no detriment that it should take place along the bottom edges of the sheets rather than at the top.

For making corrections, the aligner with its contents is rolled out a suihcient distance above the platen, the flap 4 raised and the enclosed sheets turned down for the purpose of making the desired corrections.

The mode of selectively separating the carbons from the copy sheets after the typewriting has been completed has already been described, the finger and thumb which engages the thumb hold 'I not being brought into direct contact with the copy sheets and the latter being thus protected from smudging.

It is contemplated that the aligner may be made of any desired sheet material either paper, fabric or any other specialized substance such as Cellophane, and that while the details of construction and arrangement as shown and described represent what I believe to be a preferred and practical embodiment of the invention, it is understood that the specific details are merely by Way of example and not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a manifolding sheaf comprising copy sheets interleaved with carbon sheets, the carbon sheets being longer than the copy sheets and being diagonally truncated at their lower corners so that the corners of the copy sheets project beyond the truncated corners of the carbon sheets, a folder comprising a back sheet with over-folded flap` forming a channel to receive the upper coincident edges of the carbon and copy sheets, said back sheet being at least as long as the carbon sheets, and having a supporting corner extending beneath the said projecting corners of the copy sheets, which supporting corner being bent over the finger permits accurate individual counting of the sheets by causing said corners and the adjacent edge portions of the interleaved carbon sheets individually to spring up when the thumb is shifted to alternately release them.

2. In combination with a manifolding sheaf comprising copy sheets interleaved with carbon sheets, the carbon sheets being longer than the copy sheets and being diagonally truncated at opposite corners so that the lower corners of the copy sheets project beyond the lower truncated corners of the carbon sheets, a folder cornprising a back sheet with over-folded ap having one corner indicated as a thumb hole and forming a channel to receive the upper coincident edges of the carbon and copy sheets with the upper truncated corners adjacent to but outside of that corner of said flap indicated as a thumb hold, said back sheet being at least as long as the carbon sheets and having a supporting corner extending beneath said projecting corners of the copy sheets, said supporting corner being bendable over the finger to cause the said projecting corners of said copy sheets and the adjacent edge portions of the interleaved carbon sheets to spring up when the thumb is shifted to alternately release them, permitting the sheets of the sheaf to be individually counted, said back sheet having an indent at such point in the lower edge as to leave the supporting corner intact.

ROY V. POT'IEIGER. 

